It's not at all a consolation for you but a BIG consolation to me to know that someone else has these kind of stress-related crossed wires. All of that happens to me too when I get, as my Grandad used to say, "in a tizzy".

Next time it happens I might also ask my teacher to play a duet with me. We don't do it very often and I love it when we do.

I have no idea whether I am going to be in any shape to play in the oboe recital a week on Saturday (also more than 3 hours travel to the town...). In fact, we don't even have the programme confirmed yet due to shortage of piano players, and alternative unaccompanied duet programme still to be negotiated between my flatmate (duet partner) and my teacher (missed another lesson this week). I'm not giving up on the idea, though. Will keep working on potential pieces and if we cancel my participation I'll at least I'll have enjoyed the journey.

Duet programme:
- Handel Pasacaille, kindly recommended by kerioboe and given a fairly successful spontaneous airing by flobiano and self at Stalybridge, minus accompaniment (it seems to work OK)
- A short Aria from Schleicht, spielende Wellen (actually for two oboes d'amore) from the Bach "Difficult Passages" book
- Vanhal Sonata No.4 from Six Duets for two flutes (oboes) or bassoon

Possible solo programme in the Highly Unlikely Event of available pianist:
- Albinoni Concerto ? Cinque in D maj, Op.7 No.6 (if anything like ready)
- May dust off Piazzolla's Oblivion and/or Schumann Romance No3

Only 10 days to get our act together...

It is some consolation to me that at least one other person behaves similarly.


I really like duets with my teacher too I see them a bit like a comfort blanket - playing alongside him gives me confidence to do things I can't normally do. Usually he makes me play my part by myself first to fix any problems but he'd obviously realised yesterday that I needed to do something where I felt really secure.


Fingers crossed that you make it


I played this with my teacher in a concert once without the piano part and I have since heard it played by two other sets of pupils one with and one without the piano. The piano adds a bit of harmony (and possibly makes the pulse more secure for some pupils) but it works perfectly well without it.

What are other people working on:
I have spent the summer on Molique's Concertino and the last couple of weeks on Andriessen's "Ballade" (which is what I played so abysmally yesterday). I also discovered a study book by a German, Karg-Elert, and am working on one study out of there.

On my teacher's recommendation I bought a whole load of studies which we are going to work on this year but haven't yet started: Lyons, Pasculli, Ferling (not the 48, which I already have but the 144)...

The duet we played yesterday (a Telemann flute sonata) is to play with an adult flautist who has lessons at the music school.

Hi Andrew just wondering how things are for you now - hopefully the arson problem has been satisfactorily resolved?

Me too. I imagine firewatch isn't leaving much time for the Forums... I hope you're getting some time on the oboe, Andrew.

Where's everyone else? It's been very quiet on here. I've been checking from time to time but not posting much. Still a bit under the weather...

Hope you are feeling better soon Katica

Emsoboe was a an Oboe masterclass today and found it very enlightening in more ways than one

Tell us more!!!

I'm guessing that was with Francois Leleux. I was at the concert last night (as was flobiano). Very impressive. The Jolivet Sonatina for oboe and bassoon is tremendous (I hadn't heard that one before). On the basis of the pre-concert chat he did, I would have loved to have been able to go to the masterclass. I think my teacher got an invitation to attend so I'm hoping for some nuggets of wisdom.

One interesting observation for reed obsessives. He makes 2-3 reeds A MONTH!!!

I also had confirmation from one of the profs that, as I suspected, there is no RNCM woodwind or double reed day this year. But it should be back next year.

Ooh lucky you two! And even luckier teacher!!!

Just got back from oboe class and rehearsal / "didactic concert" for the local volleyball players. The latter was bit of a hoot... we just played three easy pieces, interspersed by each of us giving some blurb on our instruments and playing a short demonstration of anything that occurred to us. Teacher-conductor decided to do an encore of the Pink Panther, which we hadn't rehearsed at all with the latest band additions (mostly importantly the claris, who have the introductory solo) and it was all bit a of a shambles. The rest was pretty OK though.

Despite the various chastisements - mostly notably the usual problem of pathetic blowing - today's oboe lesson was fun. Mainly because I got to rehearse two of next Saturday's recital duets with my teacher (to be replaced by my flatmate on the day). Slightly worried that we didn't have any time at all to touch the Vanhal (by far the longest piece) and the first time that the teacher will actually hear us play it will be at the dress rehearsal on Saturday afternoon.

Still not in brilliant shape healthwise but thankfully well enough to be playing the oboe. That's as much as I can hope for until "they" decide whether I'm on for surgery or wotnot...

At least emotional health got a boost from a weekend away for "Salsa Sinf?nica" - joyfully played by the symphonic youth band that my teacher conducts in the town in the south (where next week's recital will be held), boosted by one or two teachers/professionals including a couple from one of the country's most popular salsa bands. Just too bad that the prof's oboe impro interlude was just too short - a rare treat anywhere, I should think, to hear salsa on the oboe! Then down to the coast for a quick dip before making way back to San Jos? via the Pacific coast road, amidst tropical downpours...

Now we have both Notmusimum and Pushpull talking about enlightening/interesting things Leleux said. Is anyone going to give us any details?


Glad to hear you're well enough to play and that you had a good lesson and concert. Hope all goes well for Saturday

I have a lesson tomorrow and will see if my teacher went to the masterclass.

Yes that was the masterclass she really enjoyed it. Emsoboe was offered free tickets for the concert that never appeared so we assume they must have all been grabbed.




There's not really a lot I can tell because I didn't attend

What she found interesting was his focus on how much reed should go in the mouth. There were probably other things but this is something she is aware of doing herself (taking more reed in as she plays). She felt the comments he made to all but the last student had some degree of relevance to her.

She had to get back to 6th form and couldn't stay until the end. What she saw of the last student their problems were different and unrelated to her situation.

Emoboe hasn't and isn't going to consider Conservatoire options on oboe. For various unfortunate reasons she doesn't consider herself a serious oboist anymore. What did surprise her was the people playing, the new students, weren't as far ahead of her as she expected.

What she found interesting was his focus on how much reed should go in the mouth. There were probably other things but this is something she is aware of doing herself (taking more reed in as she plays). She felt the comments he made to all but the last student had some degree of relevance to her.


Glad Emsoboe found the masterclass informative. Wish I'd been there - I tend to put too much reed into my mouth myself - I reckon it's a security thing.

Good to hear that the concert was great too.
There seems to be times here in Wiltshire where there are a few concerts I just MUST go to, followed my seasons where there's nothing I want to attend. Such is the case right now, but I do have the Gloucester adult learner's concert & the BigDouble Reed day to look forward to next month & have recently enrolled on Sarah Framces's weekend at Jackdaws next April followed by Andrew Knight's weekend at Benslow at the end of May So mustn't complain.
Has anyone else enrolled on these weekend courses?

I finally had a good oboe lesson this afternoon

We decided of a common accord that we would not look at the Andriessen ballade that I massacred last week so as not to revive bad memories

Instead we spent rather a lot of the lesson focussing on my not-very-good-at-the-best-of-times posture. I was amazed at the difference it made to my playing when I was standing properly and, above all, placing my arms correctly. The whole thing, of course, feels completely unnatural - my teacher kept prodding me back into the right position because I kept reverting to my usual playing position. He's told me to practice in front of a mirror this week and to stop as soon as I notice my posture has changed.

He is optimistic that it will only take a week or two to sort out - I can't help thinking it will be rather longer and then he said he wants to concentrate on improving my breathing so that I can control it whatever emotional turmoil might be going in my head. This seems to me to be rather more of a challenge

I await avidly for news on how you progress. My posture definitely needs dealing with (always getting told off for not having practised assiduously in front of the mirror... also for hand positions). And I certainly haven't been able to disconnect emotional mess in brain from breathing.

What were you supposed to do with your arms? And what's feeling unnatural?

When I did the Alexander Technique session I found that the correct standing/sitting position felt as though I was leaning unnaturally backwards. I have this same sensation when playing with my back up against the wall (something my teacher has had me do from time to time).

He had me standing with my arms relaxed by my side, holding the oboe in my right hand, then raising my right arm (still keeping it straight) and when it was high enough just bending the elbow at a right angle to bring the oboe into playing position. I then had to adjust my left arm so that the elbow was at the same height as my right elbow (and not bring my right elbow down to the left elbow which was what I instinctively wanted to do).

I felt as though my elbows were incredibly high but I mainly felt terribly exposed (my teacher pointed out that it probably was a risky position to be in if someone was firing arrows at you as it made it far easier to aim at the chest and cause a fatal wound but he thought he could say that the chance of an arrow-firing warrior appearing in the room was pretty minimal ). It altered my breathing sensations (although for the better according to my teacher as you can't unconsciously raise your shoulders with your elbows high). Bizarrely it totally took the weight off my right wrist and the oboe felt much lighter. Finally, I know this should be a good thing, but it made everything (tone, intonation) so much more stable and I am not used to every note coming out without having to make micro adjustments. Awkward intervals, ones where the second note always cracked, just worked, and this took me completely by surprise.

The problem was that as soon as I stopped thinking about where my arms were supposed to be and, for example, started counting a tricky rhythm, I went back to my normal "comfortable" position. In the end he had me just playing the "easy" bits in the piece and missing out great chunks so I could concentrate on my elbows.

He also got me to stand with my feet more widely spaced than I usually do - lined up with my shoulders rather than my hips (but given that half the time I reach the end of the piece and find I'm standing with my legs crossed, I'm not sure that this is going to be any easier to improve than my arm position).

Finally he pointed out that I always come back from the long summer break having slipped back into my preferred introverted style of playing only for myself but that this year it was worse (as in even more introverted) than usual because I was stressed for non-musical reasons. His theory is that if he spends all the lessons this year forcing me to "open up" physically and mentally, then this attitude will become so-ingrained that next summer I won't slip backwards.

Huh. Interesting. Think I'll try that.

At Dartington they picked up on my unconsciously raising the left shoulder (and then sometimes slightly tilting the head towards it). It sounds as though your exercise should correct that. And anything that makes the oboe feel light and relieves tension in my hands would be good.

On Tuesday I was playing with a split nail (vertically down into the quick ) and fear of banging it was making my fingerwork even jerkier than usual. In the end I very painfully tore it off with my teeth mid-rehearsal before everything went completely haywire.

I can't quite decide if it is a good or bad thing that a tutor who has only just met me should make pretty much the same remarks as my usual teacher. I suppose it is a good thing as it means that my teacher knows what he's talking about but I still find it slightly unnerving. (I find even more unnerving some of the unrelated-to-oboe remarks my teacher makes about my introverted playing as this is almost exactly what my piano teacher used to say almost 30 years ago and I would like to feel I have changed ).


Sounds painful
We seem to share similar tension problems but we obviously don't have the same fingerwork problems. He was complaining today that I had gone back to ultra-light finger movements which are too close to the keys and (in between keeping an eye on my elbows) I should be remembering to lift them higher and bang them down on the keys. (He claims that it's all part of my introversion and my general body language which says: "Please just ignore me, I don't really want to be here" instead of: "Are you going to listen to me or what!").

No, I definitely don't have your light finger problem... I wish I did!!!!! I'm not generally in life a shrinking violet - though I am more shy than most people think and certainly have at least my share of self-consciousness and insecurities. All of which seem to come to the fore when playing the oboe, unfortunately.

Funnily enough, my teacher hadn't actually specifically commented on my raised shoulder - just generally on bad posture, hand-wrist position, tension, etc... I'm not sure that it's that noticeable but when I explained my finger position problem to the tutor at Dartington, she had a good look at everything and then noticed that funny habit. Then of course EVERYBODY noticed...


While I'm on here... any news of Andrew? Hope there haven't been any more fires.

Hello all,


Finally things have settled down here on the farm, the fires have stopped though there are farms now burning the linseed (which is allowed) so dont panic if you see that happening around you if you live in the country..

I seem to have been so busy having a wall of 60ft trees removed from opposite the studio which has opened the view up and let in daylight..I had no idea how dark it was then wham daylight. The trees had become dangerous and were badly infected with a canker and had started to break, huge limbs were begining to come down..There was a stack of Hazel to be coppiced as well which had got very ungainly and bushy and it has been a huge, worrying job, I fret all day long as the tree surgeons swing around the trees weilding chainsaws, great big blokes swinging around on ropes make me nervous incase they cut the wrong bit off..

My last lesson was cancelled..my teacher was up to her neck in her farm stuff, its a busy time of year for farms getting the places put to bed for the winter, finishing up the jobs that need to be done..it's just the way it is..

Oboe-ing has suffered a tad but it'll come back quickly enough..I may have a blow through this morning..

for those of you who suffer from tension just try to relax as much as you can, no two people will stand in the same way, our bodies are unique..(mine is a work of art.. ).."breathe and play" is the best piece of advice I was ever given..I don't over analyse or agonise over certain issues, they will in time rectify themselves as you play..yes of course certain things have to be addressed but I don't tie myself up in knots I just relax, breathe and play..generally in my experience things work themselves out..

@Keri, there is nothing wrong with an intitmate style of playing, not every Oboist wants to be brought to the fore..the style of playing you seem to have is perfectly suited to chamber music and has much to its appeal..Not everyone is the same and I feel you have your own style which is fine and I hope you don't feel you have to change to fit a format..I am sure you play beautifully, delicately and lightly which is a sharp contrast to some of us who blast out like reed trumpets with fingers pounding the keys..

@Kate..I think the summer school did you good, you got out there and gained some valuable advice and thoughts on your playing from some excellent and highly experienced teachers and performers..some maybe in stark contrast to what you learned at Home in Costa Rica..there is nothing wrong with that imagine yourself as a sponge and take what you learnt and combine it with what you have already learned..it all makes for a richer and fuller bank of technique and Oboe skills..I know that you had the best time and I admired your travelling so far to do this summer school..your a game girl in my opinion and more power to you sweetie..Go Kate Go Kate Go Kate..atta girl..I think my summer was spent living vicariously through yours..

@Hardying, Sorry I had to cancel our duet sunday, the fires here were a nightmare, the horses took ages to sort out and the police were everywhere trying to find the perpetrators (as of yet no luck) and we are still repairing hedgerows, cutting and laying whats left trying to form boundries and filling in the gaps with temporary fencing to keep the animals safe.. I will see you at the Gloucester event and once again my apologies

Well I had better get going the two terriers (Daphne and Bim) want walking and are getting their point across by using my drawing room as a race track using the sofas and chairs as bouncing off points to go haring round the room destroying the calm and serenity as they go..its very funny but can the upholstery take much more I wonder..

Have a good day one and all..

Andrew

Glad the fires are stopped and I hope you'll be back to oboeing soon. Does your teacher also have a farm?


This is actually my teacher's favourite maxim Unfortunately I am given to over-analysing everything (useful in my professional life as a researcher but, as you point out, very unhelpful when playing the oboe). My teacher is always telling me to stop "thinking" and just play, pointing out that the oboe is designed to play in tune and that it is counter-productive to be constantly wondering what might go wrong before it's gone wrong.


I don't think he's trying to make me change to fit a format and I think he does have a point about my playing at times being too introverted. The summer school tutors made similar comments about me having a lovely style in certain types of music and certain situations but that I am easily destabilised and need to learn to play more confidently.

I do LOVE your posts, Andrew! They're so vivid... and frequently make me chortle (especially that image of Daphne and Bim dashing round your drawing room! ) as well as being full of lots of useful support and advice...

I have to say that most of the excellent advice at Dartington wasn't really in stark contrast at all to teaching at home. Quite the contrary. It's good to get a differente perspective too but mostly it reinforced a lot of what I'm learning with my teacher, which was very validating of his approach I think. In fact I found it I found it a bit spooky how similar his style is to Nicholas Daniel's (but don't tell either of them that!!! )... right down to the wicked sense of humour. The exception was advice on learning vibrato - my teacher advocates not forcing it, though he does use exercises very similar to those used for developing vibrato ("ha" "ha") for other purposes...

And I feel I totally didn't earn that praise for being get-up-and-go and off to Dartington... after all, even if I forget it sometimes, I am actually English and can still find my way around the place. I myself was really impressed by a lad from Calcutta who was learning (and teaching) piano and had never been out of the country before but managed to get himself to deepest Devon on his own... I wish I could have gone with a couple of folks from here who would really have loved it, though it would have been tough for anyone without really good English.

I really hope to be able to make Dartington (or some other course) again next year but I won't have as much time off and family may resent it... and I'll already have spent a week of leave in January (I hope ) at the music camp my teacher runs in southern Costa Rica. That's going to be quite a big challenge - a week of really hard work and really energetic youngsters.

It would be great if you could join me on the Sarah Francis weekend at Jackdaws 13 - 15 April, or Andrew Knights at Benslow, late May bank holiday weekend - or even better - both of them

It would indeed be great... but unlikely, I'm afraid. Any UK visit next year also needs to coincide with my kiwi sister being in the country, probably from late June for a couple of months, so a Dartington repeat looks like a more likely option. Really hoping they ask ND back and he says yes.

Hello
it's nice to be back, sorry about your fires andrew. We've just had a farm sale, and land now rented out sadly, so so sad.
But oboe going well, but I must get back to reed making. Perhaps when I've finished leading my last retreat in a little while.

Nice to see you back again I didn't realise you lived on a farm as well.

I have just had another pathetic lesson with my teaching telling me he was getting alarmed at how introverted my playing had become and would I please let him back into my "bubble"

However, I got home to discover a message on my answer phone from someone at work who has finally decided to do something about what has been causing me major stress over the past few weeks. So hopefully, if work problems are sorted out, then I will be less tense and I might stand some chance of getting my breathing back down where it is supposed to be and able to get a decent sound out of the oboe again.

Hope this makes a big difference for you -

Hope things are resolved for you soon Keri. It's awful when the "problem" is outside of your control but having a major impact on you.

marches oboe school????

Hope work situation gets sorted out Kerioboe and you can relax a bit more.

I'm trying to do less internetting and more practising...have a lot of work to do before exam. Those trills in Arethusa are sounding rather raggedy at the moment. Working on both Poulenc and Saint Saens first movements at the moment - can't choose between them. I have first rehearsal with accompanist on Wednesday so that could provide deciding factor.

Good Luck - all lovely pieces

Enjoy the Saint Saens, I've been working on the second movt, and a bit on the first. The third is awaiting me at some future, unspecified point!

It is a lovely piece. I've played the 2nd movement too but not the third yet.

I had a practice with my accompanist last night - it went very well overall but didn't help much in deciding which piece to do. I think I prefer the Poulenc personally but I am a bit concerned about maintaining the tonal/ dynamic control required under exam conditions. I'll put the decision off for another week.

oh and I could have done without the additional 1 hour round trip this evening to pick up my reeds, which I had left in her music room. DOH!

I played the 2nd movement for my exam last year and have also worked on both the 1st and the 3rd movement (although I was never really satisified with the way I played the third). Last year I heard Nicholas Daniel play the whole sonata and his rendition of the 3rd movement was ... impressive!


I dithered a little between the 1st and 2nd movements of the Saint Saens for my exam. I realise the 2nd movement isn't an option for you but what put me off the first movement was the long trill at the end, which I decided I would not be able to pull off, if at all stressed. My teacher also asked me to at least consider Poulenc (as I have posted before he put me off it completely by having me play it far too early on) and I did dutifully play it through a couple of times (and discovered it wasn't as bad as I remembered it). I think if it had been a choice only between the 1st movement of Saint Saens and the 1st movement of Poulenc, I probably would have gone with Poulenc.

I had a very satisfying lesson tonight I arrive before my teacher to warm up and he came into the room saying he knew from listening to me as he walked up the corridor that I was no longer stressed. I was so pathetic in last week's lesson that I felt I ought to apologise but he just dismissed it saying that these things happen. His next pupil was late so I ended up having an hour's lesson

quote name='kerioboe' [I had a very satisfying lesson tonight I arrive before my teacher to warm up and he came into the room saying he knew from listening to me as he walked up the corridor that I was no longer stressed. I was so pathetic in last week's lesson that I felt I ought to apologise but he just dismissed it saying that these things happen. His next pupil was late so I ended up having an hour's lesson
[/quote]
That's good to hear Kerioboe!

It's 4.47 here in the UK & I can't get back to sleep. Am hoping tonight's concert goes well. I turned up at yesterday's run through without my cor anglais reeds, so they're already in the case, so at least won't be doing that again!

Good luck for the concert

I have only ever forgotten my reeds at home once so far and that was when I was going to a lesson so my teacher just gave me a new one. I also once went home leaving my oboe behind in my lesson after a reed-making session . (I had forgotten that I had taken it out to test a reed at some point). I did wonder why my case felt lighter than usual when I was walking home!

[Good luck for the concert

I have only ever forgotten my reeds at home once so far and that was when I was going to a lesson so my teacher just gave me a new one. I also once went home leaving my oboe behind in my lesson after a reed-making session . (I had forgotten that I had taken it out to test a reed at some point). I did wonder why my case felt lighter than usual when I was walking home!
[/quote]

Thanks - that's made me feel slightly better

I must try that one when I need a new reed from my teacher!

Good luck with the concert, Hardying.

Good luck with choosing G8 pieces, flobiano.

I got back on the oboe today after a week off... not that it was voluntary - been under the weather again and now really hoping that a date for my operation is set soon and that it puts paid to this cycle of relapses.

On the other hand, the doc has banned me from the oboe for at least a month during recuperation. I've never had that long off the oboe since I started and don't know how I'll cope. Today it felt like aaaaaages since I last played and it was barely a week.

My teacher announced at my last lesson (two weeks ago ) that he was going to give method (technical exercises? studies?) by Silvestrini. Anyone come across his stuff?

Hi Katica - so sorry you've been poorly again & hope you don't have too long to wait for the operation.
Soon after restaring the oboe (after a gap of 30 years) I developed tennis elbow & wasn't able to play for a few months. I still get this intermittently, but not so badly, probably because I limit the amount of playing I do. It was very frustrating, & I coped by listening to a lot of oboe music & trying to learn from what I heard.

Never heard of Silvestrini - please let us know what they're like.
I've just finished the Ferling Book of 48 studies which I really enjoyed & my teacher has just started me on the Gillet ones which are a lot longer, and less interesting! but good for my technique, I'm sure.
Have a good wekeend evey one

I hadn't thought of that as a tactic I forgot my reeds in the days when he was still supplying me with all of them, as from last year I am supposed to be self-sufficient.

Yesterday's lesson might also provide another tactic for getting new reeds, although probably harder to bring off convincingly. I took a reed I had almost finished to my lesson and asked him to finish it for me because I was worried I might wreck it completely. In fact, it split while he was adjusting it and he gave me three of his own to make up for it


I hope you manage to get things sorted soon.


Every couple of years I go for over a month in the summer without playing. I suffer severe withdrawal symptoms at the beginning but they do lessen after a while. (Although when this has happened to me I have been in a different country to my oboe, I imagine it will be harder if the oboe is in the same room as you and you're not allowed to touch it). I suppose you could use the time to perfect reed-making skills... My teacher also says that it is a good idea to have a month off once a year for progress to consolidate; he claims that way you forget the bad habits and only keep the good ones. (Actually I have always thought this is typically French, as having a month's holiday in one block is the norm, but there may be some truth in what he says).


Some years ago I played "Trois Apothegmes brefs" (I'm not quite sure of the spelling). This was when my teacher organised a master class on contemporary music. I quite liked them until I got to play them with the piano and discovered that they are quite discordant .

Thank you Hardying, kerioboe for your good wishes. I heard today that the operation has been approved and it looks as though it will probably be next Friday, or if not the following week at the latest. Certainly reedmaking is on the list of things-to-while-recuperation-and-dealing-with-oboe-withdrawal.

The gap between lessons is going to be even more unbearably long as I shall just be finishing sick leave when music classes break up for the long summer vacation. Four long months between lessons!!! At least I will have (I hope) a week's band camp in January to break it up a bit.

Really annoyed with myself today - I got home quite late, decided to get some stuff organised before settling down to practice and lo and behold in no apparent time at all it was too late to be making any noise. I shouldn't be wasting a single day while I can still play!

On a more humorous note... Our second flautist turned up yesterday at our regular weekly informal practice session with some breathing exercises. One of these was to blow a pencil as far as possible along a flat surface (table). Come my turn, the pencil just shot straight off beyond everyone else's, which produced great a roar of laughter (and inevitable comments about oboists ). And that despite my breathing being decidedly deficient, especially for oboe playing. My teacher is always imploring me to blow harder (and/or more steadily/sustained/centred/etc etc).


Gosh, well done you!!!!


Thanks for that tip - they sound interesting! I don't think it's those pieces my teacher is referring to, though. The example exercise he mentioned sounded more conventional and probably more tedious.

A project I am looking forward to is working on Gordon Jacob's Three Inventions for Flute and Oboe, which I bought during my last visit to the UK. I bought them with a flautist friend in mind (my neighbour and general accomplice in our wind band) and passed the music on to her yesterday. She's already given them a it of a runthrough (more than I have) she is very excited... Has anyone else played these pieces?

[quote name='katica' date='Oct 15 2011, 07:52 AM' post='1097388']
Thank you Hardying, kerioboe for your good wishes. I heard today that the operation has been approved and it looks as though it will probably be next Friday, or if not the following week at the latest. Certainly reedmaking is on the list of things-to-while-recuperation-and-dealing-with-oboe-withdrawal.

Will keep everything crossed for you Katica. Glad it's not too long for you to wait, & you'll be back playing before too many weeks have passed. Here's wishing you a very swift recuperation.

Loved the story of your blowing the pencil off the end of the table - I'll have to try that myself some time!

Yesterday's concert went OK - not the best or worst of concerts! Unfortunately I learnt the truth behind how distracting it can be if someone in the audience takes a photo while you're playing as I lost my place , but don't think the audience noticed, but I'm sure my teacher did

Off shortly to Cheltenham for a practice for Gloucester's Adult Learner's concert in 3 weeks time

I've heard of them but not seen them. I bet they're dead tough though


My first teacher mentioned the trick of blowing an A4 sheet of paper against the wall and holding it there. The idea is to see how far away from the wall you can be when you perfom this trick.

What did you play?
Enjoy the rehearsal. "Saludos" (greetings) to the folks I know who may be there...


I've heard of them but not seen them. I bet they're dead tough though


We did that one too. Not sure that I could do hold it longer than the others (stamina is bit of a problem still) but I got further back. And they were using smaller bits of paper.

But certainly oboists do seem to develop muscles for quite a powerful air flow. I even dared to try the tummy-pushing thing (my teacher does it from time to time, as did ND in masterclass) i.e taughten abdominal muscles as you would to support breath while playing and ask the other person to try and press it in. It worked - the steely wall beyond my not insubstantial "protective layer" ( ) stood up to the pressure very well. It provoked shrieks of mirth/surprise/horror. I'm sure that I don't play with my belly like that all the time, though. When I get a bit tired my breathing technique just collapses.

Other breathing exercises (add your own...):
- For steady column of air: Blow the flame of a candle so that it bends over (perpendicular angle) and try to maintain it in position
- Similar (also for stamina): Tear off a strip of loo paper or tissue, about 3/8" wide by 7" long, and stick it on the end of a pencil at a right angle. Hold the pencil parallel to the floor and about 3" in front of the mouth . Exhale a concentrated stream of air so that the strip blows out at an angle towards the floor. Try to sustain it for 5-10 seconds, holding it a bit longer every day.
- For a nice "round" sound: Blow up a balloon (expanding equally on all sides) in one breath.

[Off shortly to Cheltenham for a practice for Gloucester's Adult Learner's concert in 3 weeks time
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What did you play?
Enjoy the rehearsal. "Saludos" (greetings) to the folks I know who may be there...

Hi Katica,
the concert was all trios for 2 oboes & cor - I was the cor.
It consisted of a trio by James Hook, the Beethoven theme & variations from Don Giovanni, a piece by Selmer for 3 oboes, & an arrangement of Autumn Leaves.

Today's rehearsal was fun, we did the Quantz that we chose when you were with us, & then played our solos pieces accompanied by Sue, mine is an abbreviated version of Hummel's Theme & Variations & a more modern Piece "Elegy for Mary" by Ian Denley, & Gerald is playing the Poulenc Flute Sonata. We then did a few extra pieces & then Gerald & I went out for lunch. Unfortunately I didn't get your message till after the event, but you were mentioned with affection! It has been a fun day but would have been even better had you been with us.

Hope it goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

Hardying - nice to hear about your concert. I've had a go at a Hook trio sonata - if it's the same one it's a lovely piece.

I've not heard of Silvestrini - let us know what they are like.

As we were coming to the end of the Ferling book (didn't actually finish it!) my teacher started me on the Luft studies just before the summer holidays. They have a lot of notes and are quite long, certainly all so far seem to have had some awkward finger changes of the type that make my head spin. So must be doing some good. Not as nice to play as the Ferling ones though.


I like the Poulenc a lot but my confidence on it depends very much on my reed. I got a new reed from my teacher last week which is slightly on the hard side for me - it makes it easy to give the ff section in the middle a real punch and make it very dramatic, but it also makes the pp high D and Eb almost impossible. My previous reed was a bit softer, the pp bits sounded great but the ff section sounded really flat, and I couldn't get enough volume out.

However, I am also not very confident in managing the change of tempo in the SS in a convincing and consistent way which makes fitting it to the accompaniment more difficult. I found the Poulenc fits very easily to the piano part and it seemd very intuitive where the entries are. The SS seems to need a bit more confidence and faith to come in and trust that I am in the right place.

I am more worried about the demi-sem-quaver runs in SS than the trill at the end. The runs in the Poulenc seem to work a bit better. For me the trill at the end isn't any worse than the longish trill in the middle of the Poulenc.

I think both of them are pretty much there though, it is more about confidence and details than anything else.

I'm trying to find ways to get Emsoboe to actually play oboe more. You've just given me a brilliant idea! I could buy this music and she could play it in her duet lesson with her flute teacher

Hope the op goes well and you are feeling better soon Katica.

Hope she doesn't decide to play it on the flute with her oboe teacher, then!

I'm so envious.. I'd love to have a cor. But - as well as the cost - reeds would be bit of an issue as it's hard enough getting oboe reeds out of my teacher... I'd especially love to be able to play trios.

Good luck at Gloucester. You started early so I am sure you are all going to be very well prepared and it's going to sound lovely. Wish I could be there!


I'm sure it's going to go swimmingly! Another bout of envy... I'm such a long way from getting going on SS and Poulenc. I might be a bit disobedient over the summer hols and see if I can manage any of it (medical clearance allowing...). How are Arethusa and the Handel going?

I'm having the same problem with reeds. My teacher has been insisting on rather soft reeds recently. I think this probably has two purposes (a) makes biting impossible as the reed closes down (especially during hot and humid weather) and (b) forces me to make more of an effort to project better/more loudly/consistently - it's harder to get going on a harder reed but easier to project/play louder once you've got it going. I definitely feel that I prefer a somewhat harder reed now (though not hard). My flatmate came home with a new reed from a teacher complaining it was a bit hard - it was just perfect for me.

@kerioboe, hope your work problems have finally settled down and you are back to normal on the oboe..

I spent hours on the demi-semi-quaver runs - mainly training myself not to put a C# in the one that looks like a D major scale. I couldn't believe it when I then played the 3rd movement and discovered that there is a similar run but this time with the C#


Cost was the reason why I ended up buying a second-hand thumbplate cor. It took me about a month to get used to the different fingering but it is really no worse than swapping between treble and descant recorder (my teacher on the other hand finds it virtually impossible to play and so can't demonstrate on it). I have one reed that my teacher gave me for the cor but all the others are ones that I've bought. Cor reeds last longer than oboe reeds (probably because I don't play it so much) but they are also more forgiving than oboe reeds.


Fingers crossed that you recover from the operation quickly and then you can play the Poulenc and tell your teacher you were practising large intervals (that's why my teacher gave it to me at such a ridiculously early stage).

I have considered this as Howarth very rarely has conservatoire cors on their second hand instrument list. Here there is some turnover in second hand oboes but hardly ever cors. Very few oboists own one, even professionals. Only the Sinf?nica, the two universities with music programmes and maybe one or two of the well established local music schools have cors. Even my teacher just borrows one when he needs one. I could probably find one in the States but that would mean a special visit.